Nozawa Nagano

I accompanied my husband for ski, and visited Nozawa in Nagano prefecture. Ski slopes at there were located quite high altitude and a very long lift took us there. In silent snow mountain, only clop of the lift made the sound. Sitting on the lift looking down river and valley was quite frightening at first, but more I rode I got used to it and I had room to breathe. I imagined myself being a bird, started enjoying the view.

Many hot spring district has rustic retro-flavored atmosphere. But Nozawa is not. 13 open air baths, stylish restaurants and bars, tasty back noodle shops, cute Japanese folk art gift shops were gathering in small cozy area. It was fun to walk around.
Nozawa was selected "52 Places to Go in 2014" by NY Times's article in Jan.
So there were many foreigners, too.

By the way according to my husband, Nozawa is great place to ski. The snow is powder snow and there are many varied slopes.

Of course famous Nozawa pickles were crispy and tasty!